LionDesk Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons

• LionDesk is an integrated CRM and marketing automation software that is designed specifically for the real estate industry.
• It offers a wide range of features geared toward helping real estate professionals more effectively manage leads and drive sales, such as custom landing pages, transaction management, texting manager, text and email scheduler, email marketing campaigns, power dialer, click-to-call, direct mail and more.
• The experts at Forbes Advisor rank LionDesk one of the best real estate CRMs–particularly for its AI tools that can save professionals a lot of time.

Pros

There are several advantages of LionDesk. First, it’s one of the most affordable real estate CRMs in the industry with plans starting at $25 per month (billed annually), which is a fraction of the cost of its leading competitors. It also has robust sales, communication and marketing tools, including auto dialers for both single and multilines (for an additional fee of $99 to $149 per month), a texting suite for an extra $2 per month and email marketing tools complete with prebuilt drip flows and email templates.

Aside from features, it is very easy to use, so there’s not a big upfront investment of your time required to set up or learn the platform. Speaking of setup, it gives users the option to import contacts or sync contacts from your email, such as Gmail or Outlook. On top of that, it syncs with third-party sites, such as Zillow and Trulia, so that you can sync your leads effortlessly.

Cons

For as many advantages as there are with LionDesk, there are as many disadvantages. The biggest drawback is that transaction and pipeline management is lacking, so it may be too basic for some users and it’s not as customizable as some of its leading competitors, such as Realvolve, so if it doesn’t work out of the box, it may not work very well for you in general―never mind for teams or those looking for a solution that can scale easily.

It’s also worth noting that while it touts its landing page builder, text suite and auto dialer features, these features do not come standard with its plans and instead are available as add-ons for an additional charge. For example, its single-line dialer costs an extra $99 per month for the basic CRM plan, making it more expensive than many of its competitors. I’d also be remiss not to mention the fact that upon registering for an account, I was bombarded quickly with texts from LionDesk from multiple phone numbers, which was annoying and felt very spammy.

LionDesk is a real estate CRM that serves to help agents and brokers generate leads and close deals more effectively. Unlike your average CRM that is built to manage contacts and move leads through sales pipelines, LionDesk is also designed with a vast number of communication features that real estate professionals need, which include text, email, mail and phone. This gives users several different touch points with potential buyers and sellers and helps users connect with leads more effectively. It also has options to automate communication, which gives users the ability to put their texts, email and mail on autopilot so that LionDesk works for users even when they’re not at work.

LionDesk is a robust CRM with a wide range of features that streamline, if not supercharge, an agent or broker’s ability to land more clients and close more deals. For example, it has a comprehensive CRM complete with real estate-specific elements, such as transaction management. It also has numerous communication tools to help agents better connect with leads as well as lead generation tools to help convert more site visitors into leads and advertising tools to help agents promote listings and attract clients more effectively.

Real Estate CRM

LiondDesk’s core feature is its CRM, which I found to be very intuitive and easy to use–however, it is fairly dated-looking. It uniquely has a “vitals” dashboard where users can see core performance indicators quickly, such as how many calls they’ve made, how many new contacts they have acquired, how many properties have been viewed, how many properties have been favorited, how many emails have been opened and more. In my opinion, it is a nice way for users to get a quick read on how much they have done over the past week, which can help you stay on track.

Aside from the vitals dashboard, the CRM is highly customizable and gives users an easy way of organizing and communicating with contacts. It offers transaction management where users can streamline the transaction process, track deals and keep track of relevant documents. While it is helpful, it’s also fairly simplistic so it’s not the most feature-rich on the market. However, it does integrate with transaction management software, such as Dotloop and BrokerMint.

Sales and Communication Tools

One of the best aspects of LionDesk, in my opinion, is its sheer number of communication tools and options, giving agents a great deal of flexibility. To start, it has a texting manager tool that helps you keep track of all text conversations for quick and easy reference. It also can create text and email campaigns that will deploy automatically is a time-saving feature, especially when it comes to streamlining announcements, such as an upcoming open house. Its email marketing feature is also drip-enabled so that you can send a campaign that has multiple emails automatically.

When it comes to communication via phone, it also has several features. To start, it has a power dialer so you can quickly make calls from your contact list. It also has time-saving aspects, such as click-to-call, which saves time and also prevents you from dialing the wrong number.

Last but not least, it also has a unique direct mail feature. This includes access to a library of prebuilt designs and customizable templates as well as printing and shipping services. This way, you can send brochures, postcards or flyers to your contact list without having to print mailing labels, add postage and drive to the post office.

Lead Generation Tools

LionDesk has a couple of lead generation tools to help users build their contact list. It does this through features such as live chat where site visitors can ask a question quickly or get more information, which can drive new leads. It also has a landing page builder where users can easily create custom web pages to showcase their listings. What I like about this is that while nearly all web pages can be tracked, LionDesk tracks page views automatically, so users can see how many people have visited a landing page from within their user dashboard.

What’s more, is that this then feels to the vitals dashboard, so users can get insights into how much interest their listings have. Agents can then use this information to make more informed marketing and sales decisions, such as which properties might need more marketing attention or advertising.

Advertising Tools

LionDesk has a Facebook Ads Partnership where users can build out Facebook ad campaigns from within their LionDesk dashboard. While this may not sound like a value add, it can save users a lot of time as it streamlines the campaign creation process. Another nice aspect of this is that because it’s connected to your CRM, all of your Facebook Ads data can be viewed from within your LionDesk account, eliminating the need to jump between platforms. It also enables users to sync their contacts from LionDesk to a Facebook Custom Audience, which can be another helpful tool for those who are running ads on Facebook.

While LionDesk is not the only real estate CRM, it does stand out for its ease of use and affordability. I found LionDesk to be very user-friendly no matter what you were doing, whether that was something as simple as creating a task or setting up a drip campaign. In return, making it a good choice for those who are new to the industry or those who are busy and don’t have the time to invest in CRM that involves a steep learning curve. It is also unique in that it offers the vitals dashboard where users can see their performance stats. This is not a common feature among CRMs, but it is particularly helpful for those who are very competitive and want to ensure they are staying on track.

	CRM	CRM Premier
Pricing (Billed Annually)	$25 per month	$83 per month
Pricing (Billed Monthly)	$39 per month	$139 per month
CRM and Contact Management	Yes	Yes
Transaction Pipelines	Yes	Yes
Email Marketing	Yes	Yes
Drip Campaigns	Yes	Yes
Facebook Lead Integration	Yes	Yes
Integrations	Yes, full access	Yes, full access
Landing Pages	Add-on ($29 per month)	Yes
Single-line Dialer	Add-on ($99 per month)	Yes
Multiline Dialer	Add-on ($149 per month)	Add-on ($50 per month)
Texting Suite	Add-on ($2 per month	Add-on ($2 per month

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CRM

LionDesk’s CRM plan costs $25 per month with annual billing or $39 per month with monthly billing. It is very similar to its CRM Premier plan but with a couple of key differences. To start, the CRM plan does not include access to its landing page builder or its single-line dialer. Instead, users will need to pay a la carte pricing for these features. It’s a good entry-level plan for newer agents who are looking to get started with a CRM that makes it easy to communicate with leads and clients.

CRM Premier

The CRM Premier plans jump up to $83 per month with annual billing or $139 per month with monthly billing. It includes everything from the standard CRM plan plus access to its landing page builder and single-line dialer. Those who are looking for its multiline dialer will be able to add it as an add-on for an additional $50 per month. The same is true for its texting suite, which oddly costs a mere $2 per month. This plan is suited better for agents that have a high call volume or need an easier way of building and monitoring the performance of their landing pages.

Getting started with LionDesk is straightforward. To start, I would suggest signing up for the free 14-day trial. It does not require a credit card and the registration process is as simple as inputting your basic contact information and confirming your email address to activate your account. From there, you will be taken to your new account dashboard where you will be asked a few questions, such as how you will use LionDesk, including to generate leads, stay top of mind or nurture my sphere of influence, and whether you would like to sync or import your contacts.

LionDesk is widely considered to be one of the most beginner-friendly real estate CRMs and, in my experience, I would have to agree. While its interface is not particularly modern, it is very straightforward, if not intuitive. It makes every step of the new account creation process very easy from importing your contacts by seamlessly connecting to your email account, such as Gmail or Outlook, to creating email campaigns and syncing to Facebook to connect your custom audience. It also has some helpful services for those who lack the bandwidth or interest in things, such as importing and setting up contacts. To help, LionDesk offers a concierge service that will set up your account for you for a one-time fee of $499.

While it should be safe to say that LionDesk is a secure platform with built-in security measures, it does fall flat compared to the competition, which normally shares which security measures it has in place. It is also equally lacking in terms of user-controlled security features. For example, it does not give users the ability to add users, never mind create unique roles and permissions, nor does it have two-factor authentication (2FA).

Support is available by phone, email and live chat Monday through Friday between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific time. However, while it offers live support in a variety of channels, numerous users report that LionDesk’s customer support needs improvement. While it does have a help center where users can find answers and troubleshoot on their own, it is not the most comprehensive nor is it the most user-friendly.

	LionDesk	Wise Agent	Realvolve	Follow Up Boss
Rating
Starting Price	$25 per month (billed annually)	$32 per month	$94 per month (billed annually)	$57 per month (billed annually)
Free Trial	14 days	14 days	14 days	14 days
CRM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Transaction Management	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Time Management	No	Yes	No	No
Power Dialer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bulk Email	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Drip Email	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Texting	Add-on ($2 per month)	Add-on ($8 per month, plus $20 registration fee)	Yes	Yes
Landing Pages	Yes, with certain plans	Yes	No	No
Revenue Prediction	No	No	Yes	No
24/7 Support	No	Yes	No	No, but 7 days per week
Support Channel	Phone, email and live chat	Phone and contact form	Email and contact form	Phone and email
Learn More	Via partner site	Via partner site	Via partner site	Via partner site

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LionDesk vs Wise Agent

When comparing LionDesk to Wise Agent, the two real estate CRMs are similarly priced. However, there are a few key differences. To start, Wise Agent caps the number of emails a user can send to 750 per send, which could be very limiting to agents with large contact lists (However, once an account holder becomes a paying member, their email limit is changed to 2500 a day.). Meanwhile, LionDesk has a monthly email send limit of 7,500. In terms of transaction management, Wise Agent is more robust compared to LionDesk’s simplistic transaction management features. It’s also worth noting that you can expect superior customer support with Wise Agent.

LionDesk vs Realvolve

From pricing to features, LionDesk and Realvolve differ in a number of ways. LionDesk is a fraction of the price of Realvolve with plans starting at $25 per month with annual billing–compared to Realvolve at $94 per month with annual billing. However, Realvolve is heavily focused on automating workflows, making it a time-saver for agents and teams that want to manage listings and leads more easily without spending a great deal of administrative time.   Meanwhile, LionDesk serves as a centralized place to manage and market to leads and clients.

LionDesk vs Follow Up Boss

For many agents, the decision of which real estate CRM to use often comes down to LionDesk vs Follow Up Boss. Although Follow Up Boss costs over double LionDesk at $57 per month with annual billing compared to LionDesk at $25 per month with annual billing, Follow Up Boss is arguably the better value as it is far more flexible and scalable than LionDesk. Granted, that’s not to discount the fact that LionDesk is the best for new agents. But more experienced agents and teams will likely find Follow Up Boss to be the better choice.

With its competitively priced plans and ease of use, LionDesk is best for agents who are new to the industry as well as those who are short on money and time as its intuitive interface makes it easy to learn. It’s also one of the few real estate CRMs with features, such as a built-in landing page builder and integration with Facebook for lead segmentation and advertising purposes, making it a good choice for those who want a centralized lead, transaction and marketing management suite.

LionDesk is a solid CRM for real estate professionals that stands out for its time-saving ease of use, simple interface and variety of marketing tools. However, its transaction management is a bit too simplistic. It also involves several add-ons and upcharges so, while it is one of the most affordable CRMs of its kind, it may not necessarily be the cheapest once users add all of the features they need.